flights to NY

[jackvdbuk]

im going to the US and A on may 31st (well haven't booked the flight yet!)

but return flights are around £300 for that date give or take... yet ill be travelling for 2 months and going home from vancouver (so will be booking the return nearer the date).. now the one way flight is around £550! i really didnt want to have a stop over at madrid or zurich which seems to be the cheapest way to get out there at about £280


what on earth and why is that? can i book a return and just not come home with the ticket? or is that a massive problem?

any ideas? way to get a cheap flight? swim there? who knows!

tl;dr: can i book a return flight to USA and not return with the return ticket?

[TooNice]

Nothing stopping you from buying the return ticket (and not use the return portion). Where are you going by the way? Maybe I can take a look at what I can find.

[jackvdbuk]

well im supposed to be going to new york then travelling all around canada & US for two months (i know..but i haven't been anywhere since i was 12!)

i really do hope it is like that as a direct flight to NY return is around 300, a direct single flight is about £600... i really dont understand that one bit!

is there someone i could ask? the flight company? the embassy?

[Funkstar]

what on earth and why is that? can i book a return and just not come home with the ticket? or is that a massive problem?

No problem with that at all.

"oh woops, I seem to have missed my flight. oh well, I think I'll go to Canada instead"

As for why a return is cheaper than a single, I really don't know what the rational is behind it.

[finlay666]

As for why a return is cheaper than a single, I really don't know what the rational is behind it.

Businesses book tickets as singles instead of returns IIRC

I think it's on the event of missing a flight a single can be changed and is more flexible than a return.

[TooNice]

It's ridiculous, but yeah, the cheapest non-stop flight I am getting the same result as you. Price drops to £305, but only with one change. And even that's a bit more than the cheapest direct return flight you can get so I'd be inclined to book the return and 'miss' the flight

[TheAnimus]

Don't forget your silly visa waver thing.

[finlay666]

Don't forget your silly visa waver thing.

and he doesn't mean to flail your credit card around in the air

[kidzer]

*chuckle*

Yep, Visa Waiver is important - I've done mine for going to the USA in July, it lasts for about 2 years I think, mine expires sometime in 2012 so you can do it in plenty time and not have to worry about it after that.

[b0redom]

The T+Cs say that if you don't turn up on a return ticket, they are able to charge you for a single. Whether or not they'd do it is a different thing. When coming the other way on a RTW trip, the Mrs and myself ended up coming back on the QM2 as it was a very negligable price difference between that and a one way flight and we didn't want to risk it.

Consider buying your two one way flights as a bundle as that might save you a bit of cash. I think you can do this from the BA* portal.

*Other carriers are available and less likely to strike leaving you stranded.

[TeePee]

Let me know if you swing through Oregon. I'm sure we can arrange some kind of flight over Mt. St. Helens, or Crater Lake or something.